Read Mad World (Book 3): Desperation for Free Online

it’s healing very fast. It barely hurts anymore at all.” He patted the leg. “See? It doesn’t even bother me.” He flexed it and then stood up and bounced up and down a few times on his haunches. Looking into my eyes, he smiled. I had to hand it to him, the guy looked in top shape. His thigh muscles bulged as he bounced in another deep knee bend, and then up again. I swallowed.
    “I’m going with you,” Zach turned and called over his shoulder to the others in the front. “If it’s okay with you, Jake.”
    “It’s more than okay, son,” Dad said, looking over his shoulder at Zach. “We’re glad to have another strong soldier added to our ranks.”
    Dad turned to DeAndre and said, “Check which weapons we can arm Zach with, he’s going to need at least two firearms, and some kind of knife.” Nodding, D went to go look into the rear compartment behind us.
    I turned to Zach. “Stick near me if you can. I’ll watch your back,” I said, smiling.
    “I won’t let you down, Luke,” he said.
    Turning around to DeAndre, who was still in the rear weapons container, I asked, “D, how long till we get to Thunder Bay?”
    “It’s about 100 miles, so around 2 hours, give or take,” he said. “Barring any mishaps, of course.” He looked grim. There were times when mishaps were more the rule than the exception. Then he sat down next to Zach with an armful of different gear.
    “Okay, Zach,” DeAndre said, handing him different weapons as he spoke. “First of all we have a shotgun, this will be your main weapon.” Zach whistled as he took the heavy, black weapon.
    “Yeah. We use a different model than the general public. This is a Saiga 12-gauge combat shotgun loaded with brenneke rounds. It is lethal. It is a rotating-bolt, gas-operated gun that feeds from a box magazine.” He spent the next 20 minutes going over the weapon, showing Zach how to hold it, how to use it and instructing him on gun safety. Zach got an intense look of concentration on his face, listening intently to every word DeAndre said.
    “Okay, next we have this Smith & Wesson M&P semi-automatic pistol,” said DeAndre, displaying a lethal looking black handgun. “It’s your backup weapon. Not as lethal as the Saiga, but just as deadly when you’re fighting at close range. It will go clean through a man and hit the guy behind him. So be careful with it.” D then spent another 15 minutes on handgun instruction and safety. He took apart the pistol and showed Zach every piece, then snapped everything back together again.
    “Lastly we have your backup knife,” DeAndre said, handing Zach a huge knife, which could almost be called a short sword. “It’s our own design, and it’s mostly a ninjatō sword, but with elements of the large Bowie knife.” We each carried one of these in a sheath on our back. DeAndre took the knife from Zach and slipped it into a sheath with straps. “Luke will show you how this goes on your back. The hilt will stick up behind your head, and you can grab it,” he mimed reaching behind him and grabbing an imaginary sword. “It’s great to know it’s there, because sometimes it’s your last weapon left. It’s basically a short sword, the blade is razor sharp and nearly 20 inches long, and there’s barely any hand guard to it, so be careful.” He handed the blade to Zach, who took it and began to examine the sheath and buckles.
    “I’ll show you how to strap it on. You should keep the sheath on at all times,” I said, showing him how to put it on. “We load up with our weapons when we leave the vehicle. You never know when you might need them, so keep them close at hand inside when they’re not on you. See?” I patted my shotgun, which was beside my leg, propped up against the seat.
    Zach spent the next few hours studying the weapons, while I went up front to sit with my dad. The terrain we were covering was wilderness and wetlands, not much to see. I dozed off after a short